1926 Cleveland Indians After floundering in 6th place two years in-a-row, 1924 and 1925, the Cleveland Indians came to life in mid-season 1926 and rallied to finish in 2nd place, with a sparkling 88-66 record only 3-games out of first. Two veterans enjoyed their finest seasons, first baseman George Burns and pitcher George Uhle.

George Burns captured the attention of baseball fans by batting .358, and set a since broken major league record by blasting 64 doubles. He also won the coveted Most Valuable Player Award for the American League.

George Uhle created sensational headline news by completing a major league best 32 of 36 games started, led the majors with 318 1/3 innings, led the majors by winning 27 games and led the AL in winning percentage with .711 and finished second in the league with 159 strike outs.

Player Bios: Complied by staff@baseballhistorian.com from old newspaper clippings and record books:

Homer Summa, Outfielder - an accomplished fielder with a strong throwing arm he joined Cleveland in 1922. A fine slashing hitter, Summa hit ..328, .290, .330, .308, .286 and .284 from 1923 through 1928. Summa's best season was 1923 when he batted .328, scored 92 runs, hit 27 doubles, 6 triples, 3 home runs, 69 RBIs and struck out only 20 times in 525 at bats.

Joe Sewell, Shortstop, Bats Left T RH - a smooth gliding fielder and a lifetime .312 hitter during an outstanding major league career spanning from 1920 thru 1933. Joe Sewell batted at least .315 each year from 1923 thru 1929 and played 460 consecutive games before missing one game because of a spike wound, and then proceeded to played 1,103 straight games. 'I must have played a month with my shoe cut open before I was back to normal. But I played.' Joe Sewell, a Hall of Fame member, was and still holds the record of the hardest man in baseball history to strike out. He fanned just once in every 62.6 at bats. Second on the list is Lloyd Waner at a 44.9 ratio. Joe Sewell, 5'4.5" - 155 pos. career: .312 BA, 2,226 hits, 436 doubles, 1141 Runs, 1055 RBIs, 114 Ks in 7,132 at bats.

LukeSewell, Catcher, Right-handed - younger brother of Joe... A top-of-the line defensive backstop, Luke had a long major league career from 1921-1942... and played in more than 100 games in nine different years and was a popular fan's favorite in Cleveland. The 5'9", 160-pos, Luke Sewell best offensive season was 1927 when he batted .294, lined 27 doubles, 6 triples, drove in 53 runs and struck out only 23 times in 470 trips to the plate. Just like his brother, Joe, Luke was a tough man to strike out. A .259 lifetime hitter, he fanned 317 times in 1630 games, on average of once every 17.5 at bats.

Freddy Spurgeon, Second Baseman - played just two full years in the majors... in 1925 he hit .287, 12 extra base hits, stole eight bases in 107 games. In 1926, Fred Spurgeon batted .295, lined 181 hits, belted 31 doubles, scored 101 runs, and struck out only 36 times in 614 at bats.

Charles Jamieson, Outfielder - broke into the majors with Washington in 1915 and traded to Cleveland in 1919, where he played until he retired in 1932. A career .303 batter, and one of the baseball's top leadoff hitters, Charlie Jamieson stole 132 bases in his long successful career in Cleveland and hit starting in 1920, his first full season - .319, .310, .323, .345, .359, .296, .299, .309, .307, .291, .301 and .302. Jamieson's career: .303 BA, 1,990 hits, 322 Ds, in 6,560 at bats, scored 1,062 Runs, and had a nice .378 on-base-pct.

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